A Ziyaratnama
(Tablet of Visitation)
of
Síyyíd `Alí-Muhammad-i-Shirází (the Báb)
for Mullá Muhammad `Alí-i-Barfurushí (Quddús)
Trans. Denis MacEoin
originally published in Rituals in Babism and Baha'ism, pp 105-6 (see
full citation below)
Tablet of Visitation for the martyrs[2],
on them be peace, who have sacrificed themselves for the Last Name of God[3],
Quddús, Quddús, Quddús.
In the Name of God, the Most Inaccessible, the
Most Holy!
Holy, holy, holy (quddus, quddus, quddus)! The glory from God, no other
God is there but He, rest upon thy heart and the heart of whomsoever is in thy
heart, and upon thy spirit and the spirit of whomsoever is in thy spirit, and
upon thy soul and whomsoever is in thy soul, and upon thy body and whomsoever is
in thy body. Then, the exaltation from God rest upon thy heart and the heart of
whomsoever hath been created from the light of thy praise, and upon thy spirit
and whomsoever hath been created from the spirit of thy benediction, and upon
thy soul and whomsoever hath been created from the soul of thy unification,[4]
and upon thy body and whomsoever hath been created from the light of thy
glorification. Thou hast been raised up, nor is there above thee anyone
possessed of exaltation like unto thee; thou hast come near, nor is there anyone
possessed of proximity like unto thine. All created things have given praise in
unison out of the essence of thy praise, and all atoms have rendered
glorification out of the camphor of thy glorification, and all the psychic
entities have extolled the oneness of God in unison out of the substance of
thine extolling of His unity, and all the individual realities have lauded the
greatness of God in unison out of the absolute reality of thy glorification of
His greatness. All render praise unto God through thee, and all sanctify God
through thee, and all extol God's singleness through thee, and all magnify God
through thee. So great hath been thine affliction that the afflictions of all
created things are cut off from any connection with it; the calamity that hath
overwhelmed thee hath reached so high a station that no other calamity of any
created thing may be mentioned in the same breath as it. By thy glory, there is
nothing in existence apart from God that weepeth not sore over thee, that is not
established under thy shadow, that doth not praise God with the praise thou
didst offer, that doth not sanctify His name with the sanctification thou didst
render, that doth not extol the unity of God with the praise of His unity that
thou didst utter, and that doth not magnify God with the magnification whereby
thou didst honour His greatness. From all eternity and unto all eternity thou
hast been in the exaltation of holiness and majesty, and unto all eternity thou
shalt be in the height of sanctity and beauteousness. Thou art he that hath
become manifest through the manifestation of thy Lord, and kept hidden through
the concealment of thy Lord, and thou art the First, for there is no first save
thee, and the Last, for there is no last other than thee. Thou hast ascended
through the degrees of creation unto that horizon where none hath gone before
thee; and thou hast been raised upon the throne of thy glory on the highest
horizon of paradise, higher than which there is nothing whatever in the
knowledge of God. I call upon thee and upon all things as witnesses that thy
blood is pure, untainted and unsullied, and that through the residue of its very
mention the realities of all created things have been made manifest . . . I call
upon God and upon all things as witnesses that God hath sanctified thee from all
likenesses and hath given unto thee what He hath given unto no one in His
creation - not the dominion of earth and all that is on it, but the dominion of
Paradise and all that dwell therein. Thus, there shall not come into the heart
of anyone a mention of grandeur or might, save that he shall come unto thee with
a mention of humility and shall descend to the door of thy courtyard in the
utmost degree of abasement . . . Verily, I call to witness the angels of the
Throne and the Seat and the heavens and the Most Exalted Paradise and the most
glorious garden, that circle about thy grave, and ask that they may take the
water that poureth from the eyes of whomsoever exhibiteth love for thee and may
bring it into the presence of God, thy Lord, and that God may look upon him that
hath performed that act of grace and that His paradise may lament over him, and
that He may single him out for all His grace and all that He may fashion, for
there is no drop of water more loved by God than that which hath flowed out over
thy tribulations and hath appeared on the cheek by reason of thy sufferings ...
(From text in Muhammad `Alí Malik Khusraví, Tarikh-i-shuhadá-yi
Amr, I [Tíhrán 130 B.E./1973-4], pp. 412-14).
Notes
[1]
This Ziyaratnama (Tablet of Visitation) for Quddús was scanned,
proofread, and annotated by Mehdi Wolf from MacEoin, Denis. Rituals in Babism
and Baha'ism. Pembroke Persian Series, Vol. 2, Charles Melville Series ed.
(London and New York: British Academic Press, 1994) pp 105-6 (Appendix IV).
[2]
Of course, "martyrs" refers to those who sacrificed themselves during
the seige at Shaykh Tabarsí (between about January and October,
1849). Nabil records in The Dawnbreakers that the Báb, upon hearing the
news of the seige and the martrydom of many of its defenders, including Mulla
Husayn and Quddus, secluded Himself in His prison cell at Chihriq and
refused to see anyone, including His secretary, for nine whole days. However,
starting on the first of Muharram in the year 1266 (November 17-December 17,
1849), and continuing for one whole week, the Báb revealed a number of
Vistation Tablets in praise of the martyrs. It is fair to assume, therefore,
that this work dates from between November 17th and November 23rd, 1849. See
Nabil-i-Zarandi, The Dawnbreakers, pp. 430-1 (ED. Note)
[3]
"The Last Name of God" - Ism Allah al-akhir - was
a title of Mullá Muhammad `Alí-i-Barfurushí (MacEoin`s note - ED).
[4]
tawhid - the declaration of God`s unity (MacEoin`s note - ED).
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